Library News

As West Des Moines students start back to school, we wanted to highlight an invaluable resource that was developed by The Iowa Core. Their Parent Guides, in English and Spanish, provide an overview of what students will learn by the end of each grade level as directed by the Iowa Core, the state’s academic standard.

The library underwent many changes between July 1, 2020 and June 30, 2021. Explore some of the highlights in our Library Annual Report linked below. 

Read the FY2021 Library Annual Report. 

From Joe Pollpeter, Vice President, WDM Library Board of Trustees

This summer I will be wrapping up my four-year term on the West Des Moines Library Board of Trustees. This follows the six years I spent as part of the West Des Moines Library Friends Foundation.

As you start to think about heading back to school, we wanted to highlight some of the hidden gems that can be checked out at the library. These items are part of our Library of Things and range from technology items, children’s STEM kits, Meet Your Neighbors Story Boxes and even a car charging kit!

You might be asking yourself: what is a Library of Things? By definition, it’s a collection of objects loaned that vary widely but go beyond books, journals and media traditionally offered in a library. Our offerings continue to expand as we meet the needs of our growing community.

In This Day and Page is a new podcast created by the West Des Moines Public Library with the goal of sharing all the different library resources, services, and programs we offer! Through staff and community member interviews, join us as we explore the ins and outs of the library world. Look out for a new episode every Monday on all major podcast platforms.

Two of our most regularly used programs at the West Des Moines Public Library are the Senior Outreach and Homebound Delivery services. These programs were created to give WDM residents who have difficulty coming into the library access to library materials, no matter their living situation.

The Homebound Delivery service has been around for over twenty years and has been utilized by hundreds of patrons. In 2020, library staff and volunteers selected and delivered materials monthly to an average of 50 patrons in individual homes. 

For our Renovation Celebration Open House, we invited our patrons to compete in two competitions: a scavenger hunt around the building and a Haiku writing contest. We are glad to recognize our winners of each contest and thank those who participated. We were overwhelmed by the talent and turnout! 

So, without further ado... 

Our scavenger hunt winners are.... Mishka and Emma! 

The WDM Public Library is thrilled to now offer ABCmouse.com, an online early learning resource, to our patrons. The award-winning ABCmouse curriculum is designed to help young children (ages 2-8+) build a strong foundation for future academic success. ABCmouse is 100% educational, with more than 10,000 learning activities (books, puzzles, educational games, art activities, songs, etc.) across all major subject areas—reading, math, science, social studies, art, and music. Over 1,000 of these learning activities are in Spanish.

This weekend, the West Des Moines Public Library hosted an open house to commemorate the $3 million renovation that wrapped up in April 2021. The celebration also marked the 25-year anniversary of the building at 4000 Mills Civic Parkway which broke ground in 1996.

This renovation became a part of the Library’s strategic plan in 2017 and came to fruition in early 2020 despite the setbacks from the Coronavirus pandemic. In fact, even with COVID-19 and the renovation, the Library was only closed for 81 total days from March 2020 to April 2021.

When the West Des Moines Public Library opened its then-new location here at 4000 Mills Civic Parkway in 1996, the City celebrated the creation of a beautiful space for the community to gather and learn. During this initial celebration, the building was festooned with many decorations, including helium balloons. In true balloon fashion, they found their way to the highest and most unreachable parts of our ceiling, creating a home for themselves for the next 25 years.

From Carol Grant, Secretary, WDM Library Board of Trustees:

I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait for the West Des Moines library to reopen.  Two reasons…first, it’s been a year since Covid squelched my ability to leisurely browse the stacks. Secondly, I can’t wait to see (and experience) the final results of the renovations that have taken place over the past 20 months.

Due to needed phone maintenance, the phones at the library after 6pm tonight, Tuesday, April 13 may get interrupted.  Curbside service will continue to 7pm as usual.  

Pull up, call the number as usual - 515-222-3404 - but if you cannot get through, staff will come out to check with you.  

Thank you for your patience!  

Phone service should be re-connected by Wednesday morning.  

Curbside Pickup of holds is available during our Renovation Closure. 

As of 4/8/2021, we have EXPANDED Curbside Hours!  These will continue until we reopen in late April.

Hours for Curbside during Closure:  

     Monday - Thursday, 9am - 7pm

     Friday - Saturday,  10am - 2pm

To Use Curbside: 

Amazon is withholding ebook and audiobook versions of works it publishes through its in-house publishing arms from US libraries.  This may affect the offerings provided to patrons via our statewide Bridges service from OverDrive, though we don't yet know the impact.  

Here is a good article from The Verge outlining the issue.  

"A library outranks any other one thing a community can do to benefit its people."  Andrew Carnegie 

I spent an hour volunteering at the WDM Library Concierge Desk recently.  As President of the Board of Trustees, this is just one way that I am able to directly engage in the work of the library.  Although the Board of Trustees meets every third Tuesday of the month, to transact  important business, connecting with the day-to-day operations of the library is important to understanding more fully what goes on inside the walls at 4000 Mills Civic Parkway.